Lost In A Bradbury World
by VisauralWrites
Summary: Captain Turner is a seasoned space-vehicle captain who's just been assigned to go on a mission to a new planet near Sirius... but is it a planet? Has he been there already? Ray Bradbury/FOP tribute. Rated K for frequent usage of technical terms.
1. Tokyo By Night

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Contains paragraph numbers!_

_DISCLAIMER: "Tokyo By Night" by Hook N Sling and Karin Park isn't mine!_

**_CHAPTER 1_**

**_TOKYO BY NIGHT_**

**_MARCH 30, 2048_**

1 Today was the day. The day that the rocket, mission CSVL-9895, would ignite its massive engines, hurling a crew of 128 towards the skies. The space race has long been superseded by a movement of unity - of peace, signed contracts and raised second and third fingers. In its place was a globally-monitored and centralized system of launchpads and spaceships called the 'Central Space Vehicle Link'. Since the year 2023 it has launched 9,894 missions at a 97.559% success rate.

2 Alas, the 9,895th one was launching tonight - one of the most important space missions in the history of the Space Vehicle Link - in the Tokyo Launch Station - which is actually deceptively placed roughly 16 kilometres north of Tokyo. CSVL-9895, a flagship Axwell-class modular cruiser, registration number CJ-3455-WV, would head into the cluster of stars close to Sirius, and land on a newly-discovered planet which was found to have conditions suitable to human life.

3 Leading the above-hundred-strong crew was Captain Turner, whose first name none except from the CSVL personnel knew since he was 30. At 18 he suffered from a great depression of unknown origin, and at 23 he left his parents and had a life of his own. He was a young-looking man, but far from young was he. Even though he was 56, he was known as a child by heart by fellow astronauts. It was now 6 in the evening - 6:00:35 - when he opened the door and headed out of the astronauts' quarters and boarded one of many silver vans taking him to the launch site.

4 The ship was so large that it would be launched as two separate vehicles before docking together 1,500 kilometers above the exosphere of the Earth. Beforehand, a control vehicle - one that looks like an oversized cockpit the size of two B-2 bombers of the 2000's - would take off like any commercial airplane and meet the two docked portions of the ship. It was a cockpit, after all - and that's where Captain Turner and five of his most trusted officers were heading.

5 The two main sections of the ship - codenamed _Julius_ and _Venus_ - were positioned at runways 2 km apart. Each section was massive - at least 500m long by 175m wide at the tail. A ten-kilometer runway was ahead of the two great ships - _Julius_ on the left, _Venus_ on the right. _Julius_ was scheduled off the ground at 20:30 hrs while _Venus_ was scheduled off 21:00 hrs. That's 8:30 PM and 9PM, Turner sighed. His central ship was supposed to be up there at 7:30 PM. As he thought that, the van arrived at its destination. Turner split the group into three groups - two groups of 61 and one group of 6, which he was a part of. He reminded them about his orders, and gave them one last salute before he took off to the skies. He and his five officers boarded the control ship - numbered P-010-F - and started the ignition sequence.

6 The remaining two groups boarded Julius and Venus; 61 boarded each ship. They looked out the windows as the eight silver vans left the launch site and left the astronauts alone. It was 7:00; Tokyo was coming to life. It hasn't changed since the 2000's - the night was still one of the most active times of the day here.

7 Turner listened as the onboard computer on P-010-F droned "_Engine sequence complete. Launch sequence initiated." _It was 7:10 now. Sweat was dripping down his forehead and chin. _This was it,_ he said. In 20 minutes he would be able to witness Tokyo by night from a beautiful vantage point. It reminded him of a song - one of an emotion he could not specify. It gave him some positive power - after all, he was a fan of instrumental music (but appreciated some lyrics). To him, the middle section, the only part with lyrics, sounded like something translated from a Japanese piece of literature:

7a  
I'm your light

_Tokyo by night_

_Lover till you burst_

_7b  
Don't forget_

_Love is not for real_

_If it doesn't hurt_

_7c  
Feel your lows_

_Say your prayers_

_Come with me_

_7d  
Drink my blood_

_Fade to black_

_Come with me_

8 He was listening to it at the moment - it was an old song from 2014. It was roughly five and a half minutes long - perfect to pass the time. Soon enough, the song dipped into its DJ-friendly outro of percussive instruments tracing out a complex rhythm.

9 A few minutes passed. _Launch sequence complete_. It was 7:25.

10 "Mission Control to P10F, you may now initiate take-off. Good luck and godspeed," the officer at the control tower said. "Roger that Control. Guys, here we go! Thrust to full power," Turner ordered as he pushed a large lever and watched the thrust meter reach 100%.

11 The speed readings showed 50. 100. 200. 250. 300. 450. 500km/h - "and liftoff!" the control tower officer bellowed. Below, there was cheering in the Mission Control room. Time passed. Turner took the time to appreciate the urban jungle of Tokyo below him. Myriads of tiny lights shone to the skies while countless signs with foreign characters accompanied these lights, as would a counterpoint would do in a song. So this was Tokyo by night, he thought to himself. A crackle from the radio was heard next.

12 "Control to Turner, you're doing very well."

13 "Turner to Control. Alright."

14 "Control to Turner. Stat altitude?"

15 "Turner to Control. Mach 1 and an altitude of 3.35 kilometers."

16 "Control to Turner. It's twenty hundred hours right now. Julius will launch in thirty minutes."

17 "Turner to Control. How's it goin' down there with Julius and Venus?"

18 "Control to Turner. Julius just finished his engine sequence. It's now beginning launch sequence. Venus is now commencing engine sequence."

19 "Turner to Control. Roger that. Now at 6km up and Mach 2.5."

20 "Control to Turner. Status received. Matches data here."


	2. Union

**_CHAPTER 2_**

**_UNION_**

**_MARCH 31, 2048_**

21 The clock struck 12. Or in military time, 00:00 HRS.

22 Turner heard the radio crackle again. They were 1,500 km above the exosphere and waiting for Julius and Venus to arrive at the rendezvous point.

23 "Control to Turner. Julius and Venus are doing fine. In 15 minutes 33 we're goin' to initiate docking sequence."

24 "Turner to Control. Will give them instructions."

25 "P10F to Julius. Align with Venus and initiate docking sequence."

26 "Julius to Venus. Initiate alignment and docking sequnce."

27 "Roger, Julius. Aligned."

28 "P10F to Julius and Venus. You are aligned. Initiate docking sequence phase one."

29 Turner and his crew watched the main monitor as it showed Julius and Venus getting closer.

30 _Docking arms deployed. Distance 500 meters… 300 meters… 200 meters… 100 meters… 75 meters… 50 meters… 25 meters…_

31 A sequence of beeps could be heard.

32 _Docking sequence phase 1 complete._

33 Meanwhile, Julius and Venus formed into a large, streamlined, wing-like shape as they merged. It only needed its cockpit - P-010-F. Everyone called it P10F because, well, it's shorter and easier to say.

34 "Julius-Venus to P10F. We're docked."

35 "Turner to Julius-Venus. Prepare for docking phase 2. Cockpit's ready to dock."

36 "Julius-Venus to Turner. Docking sequence phase 2 start."

37 _Docking sequence phase 2 initiated._

38 "Okay guys, let's get this show on the road… I meant space… never mind! Let's do this!" ordered Turner lightheartedly. One of his officers nodded. "Deploying docking arms," he said.

39 "Central to Turner." The transmission sounded strange, as if some snake was swimming through a pool of sound. "We're suffering phase cancellations in our transmission…. You're on your own now."

40 "Turner to Central. No effect on our part?"

41 There was only white noise as the transmission was shut off.

42 "Turner to Julius-Venus. Can you hear me?"

43 "Julius-Venus to Turner. 10-4, we can."

44 "Turner to Julius-Venus. Resume docking sequence then."

45 _Docking sequence complete._

46 Soon enough, the cockpit and body of the Axwell-class cruiser were joined. The transmission to Mission Control was restored. "Control to CW9895. Docking successful. Begin ignition of main engines." CW9895 was the transmission name of the ship with all its pieces joined together.

47 "CW9895 to Control. Commencing departure to planet."


	3. The Wormhole

**_CHAPTER 3_**

**_THE WORMHOLE_**

**_JUNE 2, 2048_**

48 The cockpit now opened its airlock, connecting it with the rest of the Axwell-class ship. It had been a few days now and the ship was now distant from the Earth. Later in the day the ship would activate its wormhole generator to travel to the patch of space near the planet. Preparations for the generation were being done right now. The crew was abuzz with discussion - checking on the wormhole generator, talking about how advanced the day's technology was, et cetera. Some of the crew did final checks on the generator before it was to be fired for the first time.

49 The generator was one of a kind, operating on a special kind of classified substance it uses to create wormholes. It was the product of thousands of prototypes, hours of hard work, and lives risked. Many of the prototypes failed in a way - until prototype #1,729 which made it into production. And here, aboard CSVL-9895, was the very first production unit.

50 "CW9895 to Control. Wormhole generation in 6 hours. Proceeding to deploy zone. ETA 5 hours." Turner said through the condenser microphone positioned in front of him amongst all the knobs, levers, and sliders. Oh, how he missed Earth. How he missed his childhood… He stared into the blank field of space in front of him, extending into seemingly unmeasurable infinities in all directions. His childhood - he could hardly remember it. Earlier studies on his brain showed a massive gap in memory from his tenth year up to his eighteenth. He could hardly believe it as that news was broken to him. However, it wasn't completely erased. He had tidbits of memories of his 10th year to his 18th. He was involved in the naming and development of these vehicles he were running through space right now - and there _must_ be a reason why he named the two large segments of the ship _Julius_ and _Venus_, why this mission was the 9,895th, and why there was a goldfish bowl on display in the cockpit room. It was all a mystery. He ordered his second officer to take control for a little bit as he laid down on the bed in one of the bedrooms inside the cockpit. He fell asleep and drowned in his dreams…

51 _Captain! Wake up! Wormhole generation in 30 minutes, sir!_

52 Captain Turner rose from his bed. He took the controls and contacted Mission Control. "CW9895 to Mission Control. We are at deploy zone and in 30 minutes will drop the bass."

53 "Control to CW9895. Excuse me?"

54 "CW9895 to Control. Sorry, I meant _we will deploy the wormhole _in 30 minutes."

55 Thirty minutes passed.

56 "Control to CW9895. You are clear to drop the bass."

57 "CW9895 to Control. Affirmative!"

58 Turner pressed a button, and dubstep music started blaring out the PA system of the ship. The fourth officer giggled. Echoes of confused voices started filling the ship.

59 Turner's first officer stammered. "S-Sir… you've pushed the wrong-"

60 Suddenly an artificial-sounding voice droned over the music. _Wormhole generation sequence initiated. Generator fully charged._

61 Turner locked on to a patch of space five km away from him and targeted the cluster of space where they were to come out the other side of the wormhole.

62 The voice spoke again. _Target locked. Firing in 3. 2. 1._

63 A bright, blue ray came out of the front of the ship, forming a distance away from them into a large, light-blue-and-white vortex spinning around a core.

64 "CW9895 to Control. Wormhole formed. Requesting clearance to proceed."

65 "Control to CW9895. Affirmative. We don't know if our signal can hold up given such a long distance, but we'll try. Good luck!"

66 "Engine to full throttle! We're goin' in!"

67 The whirr of solar-powered main engines could be heard, rising in pitch by 12 steps… 24 steps, as the speed of the craft increased logarithmically. The ship went faster and faster, and the rate of its acceleration kept increasing over time. Soon enough there was a flash of white… and they were gone.


	4. Black Result

**_CHAPTER 4_**

**_BLACK RESULT_**

**_JUNE 2, 2048_**

68 Axwell-class cruiser CJ-3455-WV emerged from the flip side of the wormhole.

69 The space in this sector of the galaxy was completely different. In front of them a different star burned - Sirius, that was. They seemed to be lost in the field of planets, comets, and asteroids amongst them. Captain Turner engaged the obstacle-evasive system. Immediately the ship started rocking back and forth - on two planes. Simply put, it moved left, right, up, and down. Soon enough, they were past the asteroid field. In front of them was their destination planet.

70 Turner tested the connection of his ship's radio to Mission Control. It was dark. Just a hint of crackling could be heard. He let go of the _PTT_ button. "A black result", he sighed. "I guess we're on our own this time, comrades."

71 Captain Turner glanced at the planet. And then twice. Then thrice. He then stared for a longer time. He blinked after a few seconds. This could not be happening. Before he could gasp, his first officer spoke up.

72 "Captain, shall we initiate entry?"

73 "We shall. Activate the heat shields. We don't know the proper approach angle for this planet so we'll use Earth's."

74 "Yes, sir!" The flipping of a few switches could be heard, and that same drone of a voice: _Heat shields activated._

75 As if in reply, Turner then ordered, "Computer, initiate entry sequence."

76 Everyone in the cockpit gaped in awe as a blue bubble enclosed the ship and flames started surrounding its entirety. "Check attachment locks. Close the airlocks. We don't wanna make _Julius_ and _Venus _the galaxy's new orphans." The officers heard Turner, and started tapping furiously at touch screens positioned around 25º from horizontal. Soon enough on the monitor appeared a diagram of the ship, showing the status of the locks that held the cockpit, _Julius_, and _Venus_ together.

77 All the locks had a green circle next to them, indicating that they were securely armed. Everything was going as planned for the group of 128. The group watched as the altitude indicator's integer fell in value - 300,000 feet. 250,000 feet. 200,000 feet. 150,000 feet…

78 Turner pressed a combination of buttons on his control panel as the flames and blue aura around the ship subsided. "Main engine start for final entry approach. What's our altitude?"

79 The third officer spoke up. "100,000 feet above sea level, sir."

80 Turner then pressed another sequence of buttons, tapped a few times on his touch screen panel, and pulled a lever. The ship started to transition from being perpendicular to the ground to being parallel to the ground. A few minutes later, they were flying horizontally.

81 The captain then brought the condenser microphone up to his mouth and announced. "All crew, prepare for descent and landing." They were losing altitude a smidgen faster than a commercial jet plane would do. Finally, after an hour of descent, the altitude meter hit 0 feet and everyone prepared to disembark.

82 "Turner to Control. If you can hear me, we've touched down."

83 Turner held his microphone. On the other end, there wasn't only white noise; there was a faint trace of cheering and euphoric celebration…


	5. This Place

**_CHAPTER 5_**

**_THIS PLACE_**

**_JUNE 2, 2048_**

84 All 128 personnel were in the cockpit. It separated from the main body as a rather quick land vehicle. There was chatter in one of the control rooms of P10F; later, the main body could be seen heading back to the skies. Yes, this team was in charge of keeping the main body in orbit for the rest of their expedition.

85 The place itself was a little too familiar for Captain Turner. It somehow called into his inner soul - his entire being. A voice seemed to echo from within, telling him that he's been here before. He couldn't figure it out. The atmosphere was pink as far as the eye can see, and here P10F laid silent on the green grass. Turner thought. Pink and green. This place was calling to him with its entire being. This place… it was very much alive.

86 "Check for life. Let's go around."

87 The crew needed no further orders. Together, the team of 128 steered the P10F vehicle through a plain, past what looks like a forest, into what looks like a cluster of habitats.

88 "Turner to Control. We just found some habitats. I think there are intelligent life forms down here."

89 Everyone gaped at the thought. Captain steered the P10F into the roads of the town. It was deserted and barren. They could not see any life forms, but they felt that there were life forms all over this place. No - as if those life forms were living. This was impossible. Turner sighed, trying to remember the place. He definitely has been here before; he just doesn't know _when_ or _why_ he was here. Perhaps this has got to do with the memory gap he had - he couldn't remember his childhood.

90 Most of the crew stared in awe while some jotted down observations on their mini-computers. Some more operated cameras around the P10F, snapping pictures wherever the P10F went. Each imaging unit had a thermal ability.

91 The imaging team representative went up to Turner. "Sir, we've detected life forms through thermal imaging. It seems that the colours of light that they reflect are outside our eyes' visibility spectrum."

92 "Aural team, observations?"

93 The aural team officer spoke up. "We're picking up frequencies in the 320kHz range. We can't hear those frequencies, sir - they're ultrasonic.

94 "So that's why we can't see nor hear them!" gasped Captain Turner. "Their natural frequencies - aural or visual - are higher than ours!" Only now did they notice a soft hum that seemed to emanate from the planet's core itself - it had a magnetic field after all.

95 "Heck, even the planet itself has a higher frequency radiating from it! Listen! We're picking up 750Hz tones - a hundred times as high as our Earth's 7.5 Hz!

96 All this meant only one thing to Turner - that this place was definitely stranger than he thought. He made a decision.

97 "I need a team of 10 to go down and explore this place on foot," ordered Turner. 3 cockpit officers and 7 others joined him. "Reports suggest that the composition of the atmosphere here is similar to that on Earth's, so we shouldn't have a problem," said a crew member.

98 Turner beckoned his team out the airlock. "Let's go - we need to communicate with these life forms." At "life forms" he felt a pang of regret; it seemed that these "life forms" deserved more dignity than just being called "life forms". Suddenly, memories came to him. He knew this place alright. This place… wasn't a product or figment of his imagination. Neither were the pink sky, the green grass, the purple houses, the rosy scent of the air…

99 He went ahead and led his team around the village of purple houses. This was definitely familiar. He could swear he knew his way around here. He thought hard, trying to access what was left of his memories as a ten-year-old.

100 "Sir, we detected audio signals at around 1-4kHz…"

101 "And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

102 "You're supposed to hear those frequencies, sir. We can't…" Turner scrutinised the ten and found them scratching their heads, wrinkles on their faces in confusion and deep thought.

103 But Turner could hear speaking. Yes - speaking was around 1-4 kHz alright, and he could hear it loud and clear.

104 "I hear them… hold up, they're trying to communicate with us." realised Turner.

105 Turner listened closely. He realized they were speaking in the Earth tongue! They were speaking English!

106 "Turner to P10F. Turner to P10F. On your guard. THESE LIFE FORMS SPEAK ENGLISH."

107 "P10F to Turner. WHAT?! THIS CAN BE ONLY THE WORK OF—-"

108 Another voice aboard the oversized cockpit interrupted the transmission.

109 "Keep your mouth shut, will ya? Those things you're talking about don't exist! Aliens do, and TURNER's got his ears on probably a few."

110 Meanwhile, Captain gasped as he witnessed the life forms materialised before him. He gasped in utter shock. "P10F to Turner. You okay?" "Turner to P10F. Yes. My memory gap… it's filling with memories. This is —"

111 The transmission cut off. The second officer saw Turner in tears.

112" —wonderful!" Turner exclaimed. At this point in time his companions noted that they could hear the life forms talk - with Turner.

113 "Officer Keith Maxwell to P10F… they know Turner's name! THEY KNOW TURNER'S NAME!"

114 "P10F to Maxwell. Stand down and keep distance."

115 Turner, well, turned his head to his comrades. "Don't worry, they're old friends… from my childhood."

116 "P10F to Turner. AHA! THEY EXIST! I KNEW I— 'Will you please? Can we have a little silence? They don't exist!' But THEY KNOW TURNER'S NAME!" The transmission cut off once more.

117 Captain Turner's second officer merely approached him and observed the tears dripping from his eyes, drying out… and the wide grin on his face as he hugged those life forms.

118 "Officer Keith Maxwell to P10F… Life forms are short humanoids, 'round 2 feet in height. They levitate and have wings…"

119 "P10F to Keith Maxwell! THAT'S ALL I NEED TO KNOW! THOSE LIFE FORMS ARE INDEED—-" "Don't you DARE SAY THE F-WORD!"

120 Maxwell cut off the transmission.

121 Suddenly, another radio crackle. From Turner. "Turner to P10F… I know who these whom you call 'life-forms' are. They're intelligent life forms… One green and the other pink. Hair colour matches eyes. Hit-or-miss, 2'2 in height. However I cannot reveal to you their identity. They ask their identity be kept secret. However, you may come to them and see them. We'll beam you our coordinates. Right now… they have a message for us. They wanted to talk to us…"

122 The green-haired one spoke in a high-pitched voice. "Ooooh, he called me _intelligent_? My brain is no larger than the size of a raisin!"

123 Meanwhile on P10F, a few taps could be heard on monitors. "Begin broadcast," said one of Turner's officers aboard the cockpit.

124 The pink one then spoke calmly in a similarly high-pitched voice. "Humans of Earth… we know you come in peace. We know you don't want to hurt us. We know you humans. We've been watching over your children, watching them grow into the accomplished adults you are right now. We ask you to take care of them… to hold them close, to nurture them, to listen to their every word… because those words are precious. We have been companions of your children, though many will not believe. We've decided as a race to expose ourselves to you, and we've been waiting for this mission. To make you realise that you are not alone. When you need allies - we are here. We are gifted in acts you do not believe in - or hold as abstract. Don't judge us for our childlike appearance and features; we live longer than you ever will. We just want to be your allies. We've been allies with the children for a long time now. They are very precious creatures, these little ones… Please accept our invitation - to unify us with you humans… to consider us as friends."

125 She dropped the transmission and spoke. "Timmy… you've grown. And we're so happy for you." She wrapped her arms around his waist and tears flowed from her eyes as Captain Timothy Turner returned the hug.

126 Turner also hugged the green one with the same intensity. He spoke two names. And a few words, starting with… _what? "I wish"?_ Second Officer Maxwell thought.

127 After a series of tearful goodbyes, Captain Turner motioned to his comrades. "Let's return. We have to get out of here." In a single file, they returned to the cockpit of P10F as it shot up its vertical thrusters and headed for the skies.

128 The pink and green life-forms waved goodbye as the green one shouted, "THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!" The pink one replied, "Sweetie, that's not Thunderbird 2!" before they vanished in a cloud of pink smoke.


	6. Ten Again

**_CHAPTER 6_**

**_TEN AGAIN_**

**_JUNE 2, 2048_**

129 Back in the ship, Maxwell spoke up. "Hey, that fishbowl over there has goldfish in it!… two of them!

130 Turner stood up from his seat, engaged the autopilot, and went over to the fishbowl. He looked intently at the goldfish inside it, and saw their eyes. He winked at them.

131 Maxwell watched in horror as they winked back at Turner.

132 Turner faced Maxwell. "No biggie, Keith. They're normal."

**_JUNE 4, 2048_**

133 Turner pressed a few familiar buttons on his control panel in the P10F cockpit - now attached to Julius and Venus. "Main engine start. We're approaching Earth."

134 An hour later, each of the 128 astronauts disembarked Axwell-class cruiser CJ-3455-WV. Mission CSVL-9895 had been a success. Captain lined up his comrades. "All I want to say is thank you. You've done a great favor to the entire human race… and to me also. You made me feel joyous inside; you made me feel curious and happy for being an astronaut. You made me ten again. I declare Mission CSVL-9895 officially accomplished!"

135 Turner watched the lanes of cars on the highway as he was driving back home to meet his family. He watched the dark blue sky against the pastel red of taillights on his lane and vibrant yellow-white of headlights in the oncoming. Beside him was his fishbowl, both fish still inside. He sighed in relief. Another accomplished mission - with another ally for not only children around the world, but the entire human race as well.

136 He got out at exit 65 and read the large sign beside the road: "WELCOME TO DIMMSDALE - NICEST TOWN ON EARTH!"

_**THE END**_


End file.
